An Alabama woman admitted to her involvement in a fraud scheme that cost one Georgia county's taxpayers millions of dollars.
According to a March 2 press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Georgia, Rosalie Bassi, 66, of Phenix City, Ala., pleaded guilty to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property.
“Rosalie Bassi cashed more than $61,000 in checks belonging to the Muscogee County Clerk’s Office, given to her by her son-in-law, Willie Demps. She did this many times and pocketed the cash, profiting off the backs of taxpayers,” U.S. Attorney Peter Leary said in the release. "This extensive and treacherous theft would not have come to light without the assistance of the current Clerk of Courts, Danielle Forte, who called for an audit when she took office, discovered the fraud and took immediate action."
Bassi reportedly cashed 16 checks belonging to the Muscogee County Clerk's Office for her son-in-law throughout the course of four years.
Demps is the former Deputy Clerk of Courts for Muscogee County with 30 years of tenure at the office. He faces 40 years of imprisonment and $1 million in fines for his bank fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy charges. Six other defendants have pleaded guilty in the conspiracy, according to the DOJ.
Bassi will face a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release and a $250.000 fine. She will be sentenced June 2.
"Now, thanks to the efforts of federal and local law enforcement, the players involved in this long deceit have been held accountable for their federal crimes," Leary said.
